Whether you realize it or not, there is a diabolical recipe; a carefully orchestrated psychological manipulation behind the phenomena of scapegoating and hate-groups.

If we’re blind to this psychological process, then we are susceptible to being involuntarily and unwittingly recruited into this process. There are numerous studies devoted to this, but a single comprehensive study by Drs. Linda Wolff and Michael Hulsizer of Webster University called Hate for Dummies seized my attention. It’s an extensive body of work with impeccable references to over seventy years of high quality statistical studies.

A summary of the more salient points are as follows:

In times of crisis and need, hate groups, hate-speech, scapegoating, and demonizing groups increases. All of the major genocides of the 20th century fell on the heels of massive economic and political crises.During WW1, hate crimes against German-Americans were rampant. In the South, during the Depression, when cotton prices hit bottom, racial lynching increased. After Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were incarcerated in concentration camps. The wholesale hatred of groups ignitedgenocides in Turkey, Germany, Southeast Asia and Africa. After 9/11, anti-Muslim attacks increaseddramatically and led to the mistake in Iraq.

Hate groups, hate speech, and scapegoating provide simple answers to complex problems that require little cognitive or emotional work. Such simplicity is attractive during times of crisis and need.

Adults who join in hate groups, stereotyping and scapegoating are more likely to have been raised in authoritarian households with strict, punitive discipline and rigid belief systems.

Adults who join in hate groups usually divide the world into “us” and “them” (in-groups and out-groups) and choose to join those groups that enable them to see themselves in a positive light, feel special or chosen and therefore, “better than” the out-group they hate or fear.

Adults who are predisposed to believe broad generalized stereotypes rather than situational variables also are more likely to fall into hatred of out-groups.

Hate Groups often target the out-group who are imagined to be in direct competition with them for land, jobs, money, or political power; the “us against them” mentality.

Hate Groups use conspiracy theories and fabricated urban legends to dehumanize certain out-groups and present them as an existential threat to the well-being of the in-group.

Many contemporary hate groups utilize religion, uber-patriotism and hate together. One of the most effective ways to maintain hate and social inequities is through manipulation of Scripture and national symbols that evoke extreme emotional responses.

Hate Groups work diligently to create a subculture for their in-group with certain behaviors and repetitive language that are unique to that group and create a sense of unity.

Hate groups have recently operated with ease and little impunity as government has ignored them to avoid offending potential voters. Hate groups who operate as lobbyists are prolific in their fellowship with our government representatives. Even government officials and law enforcement are not immune from holding belief systems consistent with hate groups.

With the previous statistical facts in mind, think upon the rhetoric you’ve heard in the recent debates, media attention, political stump speeches and interviews of the Extreme Right candidates. Does any of it sound familiar? Think of the Extreme Right representatives in our local, state, and national governments; how many of these manipulative untruths fueled the recently passed statutes that were unwarranted and unneeded?

Simply turning away and ignoring hate is a tacit approval of its existence. I’ve seen close friends succumb to this egregious practice. We need to bring it out in the open and label it appropriately.

In our time of economic crisis and need, I’ve heard Extreme Right candidates use these same psychological ploys to pander for your vote, your money and your alliance. In reality, these hate-speakers are a much lower form of humanity than those who are mere panderers.

At least the ladies of the evening are honest about themselves and the services they provide. Many of our supposed public servants are not.

What we should be doing is enlarging our circle rather than tightening it. Everyone should be included: the privileged, the marginalized, the homeowners and the homeless, the citizens and the immigrants. Those that we imagine as our enemies are better dealt with if we regard them as individual human beings first; having needs, desires, dreams and ideals, just as we do. Change the words “those people” to “us” and “we”. Excluding and marginalizing groups hurts everyone in the long run. When entire groups are dehumanized, we lose our own humanity in the process. When we hurt others, we hurt ourselves.

If you believe this labeling and scapegoating, if you buy into this philosophy, you are being used; you’re not an esteemed member of a group, you are collateral damage, a simple means to an end. Please don’t be psychologically manipulated, America. You’re much smarter, kinder, and compassionate people than these political grifters who believe everything is “dollarable”.

Carol Morgan is a career counselor, writer, speaker, former political candidate and the award winning author of Of Tapestry, Time and Tears, a historical fiction about the 1947 Partition of India. You may follow her on Twitter @CounselorCarol1, on Facebook CarolMorgan1 and follow her writer’s blog at www.carolmorgan.org